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Comment 16 Aug 2017

1. Actually playing in one of the best Thanksgiving tournaments is pretty awesome, even if we get our asses handed to us. Games on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, with the football team playing in The Game during the open Saturday.
2. In a 12 day stretch the Buckeyes play Gonzaga, Stanford or Florida, TBD (they look good this year), Clemson, Wisky, and Michigan. Great for the fans. Kinda brutal for the players and coaches.
3. Having two Big 10 games in December is kinda nice. Without it, we would have 2 games in the entire month of December worth getting excited about: Clemson and UNC. The Wisky and UM games double that number.
4. Having 3 straight road conference games is usually absolutely brutal. But with Northwestern having to play off campus, the Minney game being in NYC, and other one being Rutgers, the Buckeyes catch a huge break. Going 2-1 in that stretch seems like a reasonable goal with this team.
5. I cannot ever remember the Buckeyes having 4 straight conference home games. Kinda crazy. All are very winnable.
6. I am always ultra optimistic for OSU basketball so take my prediction with a grain of salt: 21-10 (11-7 in the BIG)

They recently offered F/C Jaxon Hayes from Cincinnati Moeller HS. He is a late bloomer who just started playing varsity as a Junior last season.
But he is starting to get a lot of attention with offers from Purdue, Xavier, Butler, etc. He isn't officially rated since he is just now getting on the recruiting radar.
His Dad was an NFL TE for many years (Jonathan Hayes) and his Mom was a standout basketball player at Drake University.
If anything, this kid has some great genes. Plus he is another Ohio kid, which is a nice bonus in my opinion.

Thanks. And I agree with your take. Matta was able to bridge the gap a little between the enthusiasm for the basketball program versus the football program during 2007-13. Hopefully Holtmann can do the same.
Two other things that would help are: a stronger non-conference schedule and a better basketball arena. Unfortunately we can't go back in time and prevent OSU from building an arena designed more for Bruce Springsteen concerts and Sesame Street on Ice than basketball. Either rennovating St.John Arena or building a smaller arena (approx. 15k) designed for basketball would have helped this program.
But Holtmann can control the OOC schedule and he has promised to beef it up. He is even open to scheduling games against the other top in state programs. That'll help.
But even if they have a bad ass OOC schedule, win 25-30 games a year, and by some miracle they replace Value City Arena with a proper basketball arena, wouldn't they still be 2nd fiddle in this town to football?
The one thing the blue blood programs have in common is none of them have played 2nd fiddle to their respective university's football team in the last 30 years, if at all. You could say the same about the programs (Arizona, MSU, Syracuse) that are probably a notch below those blue blood schools.

Whenever the subject comes up about OSU basketball in relation to the blue blood programs, I think about the 2012 Final 4.
The Buckeyes returned home from New Orleans on a Sunday night. They had a planned celebration at The Schott that was advertised pretty well (Dispatch, local news, etc.). There were maybe 1,000 fans in attendance. I remember thinking the Schott (19, 500 capacity) would not be big enough if it was a similar situation with the football team.
And this was at a time when OSU was a top 10 (arguably top 5) program. They were at their highest point in the program's history since the early 1960s. And approximately a thousand people show up on a Sunday evening to support them.
There are so many examples of this. Wondering if the local radio post game will still be on when you get back to your car after a game. The pathetic showings when they have free open scrimmages or practices. The 963 basketball forum topics currently on eleven warriors (versus over 12k for the football team).
If fans think we should be at the same level as those blue bloods, shouldn't those things change drastically? A great university, fantastic practice facility, and large budget doesn't make up for the inconsistent (often weak) fan enthusiasm and everything that goes along with that (home atmosphere, media coverage, etc.).
I think that Holtmann can and hopefully will bring us back to the level that Matta had the program from 2007-2013. And maybe he can even bring us fans a national championship. Matta was 1 game away in 2007, 2 games away in 2012, and arguably had the best team in the country in 2011.
But central Ohio is buzzing right now (and always at this time of year) because the Buckeyes kickoff in 2 weeks. I have lived in Central Ohio my whole life (39 years) and I feel like I am as dialed into OSU basketball as anyone I know. I have rarely felt that buzz in late October/early November for the basketball team, like they probably do in Lexington, Chapel Hill, etc on a yearly basis. Maybe for a season or two during Matta's best years, but still nowhere near the anticipation for the football team most years.
I just don't think that is going to change any time soon, and probably never will. That doesn't make me care any less for the basketball program. I wish other fans wouldn't get so worked up about our 'non blue blood' status, but what can you do?

I wouldn't say that they lost out on Bazley and Nance. They did not offer either player a scholarship.
Holtmann has stated that he wants to recruit players from 'the inside out.' Maybe Bazley is a really good kid that made a poor choice in trashing a program after de-commiting. But I sure can't blame the staff for not going after him.
As for Nance, it seems like some recruiting experts think that he is more of a long term project than an instant impact guy. For me personally, his game looks too similar to Marc Loving's to be upset about not going after him.
That being said, losing out on the trio of Francis, Goodwin, and Hunter sucks. I didn't expect the Buckeyes to land all 3 given the current state of the program (and Goodwin likely stays if Matta does). But landing 1-2 out of those 3 seemed like a reasonable expectation.

Agree with this. I think our roster is pretty much set. Maybe they add another preferred walk on (hopefully a big man), but that should be it at this point.
The guard spot is definitely the weakest area on this team. But Jackson/Williams/Dakich/Jallow/Lane looks a lot better than Jackson/Williams/Beverly/Lane to me. It's not like Holtmann and his staff were given a bunch of time to re-shape the roster for 2017-18.
Beverly definitely has a higher ceiling than Dakich, but Dakich has significant experience in the Big Ten. For one season, I'll take Dakich over Beverly to back up CJ. And Jallow should afford the Buckeyes the luxury of keeping Andre Wesson at his natural SF position backing up KBD.
It obviously could be better, but it sure as hell could be worse. I still think this team can make the tournament if it stays relatively healthy.

I completely agree. I am a big believer that the recruiting rankings (outside of the Top 20-30 guys) are pretty overrated. There are so many examples but one that sticks out to me is the fact that Amir Williams was rated slightly higher out of high school than Evan Turner.
I do think it is a good thing that Ahrens seems to be rising up the ranks and getting more attention as his HS and AAU career progresses.

It will be interesting to see if Ahrens is still a 3 star recruit whenever the 2018 rankings are updated. At this time last year, Ahrens only had MAC level offers before Matta offered a scholly.
In the last few weeks, these 6 programs (all were ncaa tourney teams last year except osu) have offered. Missouri, NC State, Va Tech, and a couple others offered as well. I wouldn't be shocked to see him ranked as a 4 star recruit closer to the Top 100 overall.

This is not a good development for OSU. His quote from the Zach Fleer interview: 'It definitely changes things as far as my recruitment.'

He also sounded giddy when describing his phone conversation with Roy Williams. His former teammate Sterling Manley is already on the team. And Wigmon makes a good point. We already have G/F Musa Jallow for 17', SG Torrence Watson for 18', and we are likely to sign 2-3 more with at least 1 of those being a true PG or a combo guard.

Still not counting the Bucks out, but Dom Penn looks like much more of a sure bet as a Buckeye in 2020 than Francis in 19.'

That call on Craft was absolute garbage. And how did the refs not hear Scoonie calling that timeout?

But that being said, Lighty had an easy look to win it. Tough loss, but I really enjoyed watching this squad. I did not miss a minute of action. Hope they do it next year. But Sully is going to be a damn near impossible guy to replace if he is back in the NBA. Hell, Matta couldn't find someone to replace him for 5-6 years.

I would not put any road wins as automatic. I think winning true road games in college basketball is tougher than any other sport at any level. The crowds are typically right on top of the players and I feel like the officiating is heavily influenced by the raucous atmosphere. As an example off the top of my head, an awful Rutgers team (10-22) beat the Final 4 Kaminsky-Dekker led Wisky team on their home floor.

Also, keep in mind, racking up wins against opponents below the Buckeyes in the standings is not the best thing. They went 11-7 in the conference two years ago, but didn't beat hardly anyone above them in the standings. And therefore, the Buckeyes did not make the tournament. I don't mind the schedule overall but I would trade a home game or two against either Neb, PSU, or Rutgers for one or two home games from the group of 'road only' Big 10 opponents (Purdue, Minney, NW, Wisky)

I am sure Minnesota had to approve it, but it certainly wasn't their idea. This is a Big Ten/Jim Delaney brain child. They did this double header basketball/hockey thing last year as well. Penn State and Michigan were the basketball teams, and PSU and another BIG school were the hockey teams. At first I thought it was really stupid, but I watched that game and there was 100 times more crowd energy at MSG than there ever is for a PSU home game.

But like you mentioned, the Buckeyes should have quite a few fans in NYC. And the Barn is a much better home atmosphere than the Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State.

Just remembered that the Buckeye 'road' game vs Minnesota is in NYC (@Madison Square Garden), part of a basketball/hockey doubleheader. Still think we will likely lose that game but that is a huge break for the Buckeyes.

I agree with your 11-7 prediction, though maybe not completely on the specifics. I also think 11-7 will most likely be a little better than middle of the conference. Minnesota was the only team at 11-7 last year and that earned them sole position of 4th place. Even two seasons ago when the conference was extremely top heavy, the Buckeyes were the only team at 11-7 and that was 7th place.

I think 11-7 will likely earn anywhere from 3rd-6th place this year. In my humble opinion, it is MSU as a clear cut, possibly dominant favorite. I put Purdue, Minnesota, and NW a few notches below Sparty and then a complete crapshoot trying to predict 5-12, and then Rutgers and Nebraska likely fighting for 13th place. I would also say that Purdue, Minney, and NW are far from locks to be in the top 4 and a team like Ohio State (or IU, Iowa, Mich, etc.) could sneak in there easily.

As for the schedule, here's my predictions:

Home and Away Teams:Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State and Rutgers

Predicted Record: 7-3: All home games are very winnable, especially considering that Mich and IU should actually be really good crowds, which is rare at the Schott. Probably being overly optimistic with the 5-0 home prediction, but that's how I roll. I think 2-3 on the road against these teams is a reasonable guess. It would not surprise me if they underachieved a little and lost to either PSU or Rutgers, but then overachieved a little by pulling out a road victory against either the Hoosiers, Hawkeyes, or Wolverines.

Home Teams Only:Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State and Nebraska

Predicted Record: 3-1: Not a bad draw here. They were losing to MSU regardless, it was just a matter of where and how many times. But maybe they can keep it respectable in Columbus. Illinois and Nebraska should be wins as long as the Buckeyes play with good effort. Most would have Maryland as a loss, but I am just not that high on the Terrapins. They had a good season, but they seemed to win a little with smoke and mirrors. They were exposed by NW (in the BTT) and Xavier (in the NCAAT) at the end of the season. And then they unexpectedly lost Melo Trimble. I'll take the Bucks in a close win.

Road Teams Only: Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin.

Predicted Record: 1-3: This lineup is an extremely tough draw. All 4 teams were in the tourney last year with all but Minney winning at least one game. I think Minney and PU destroy us. PU loses Swannigan but no one else from the defending conference champ and a Sweet 16 team. Minney brings back essentially their entire team. And those are two of the toughest places to play in the BIG. If we are going to steal a win, I think it has to be NW or Wisky. I love what Chris Collins is doing with the Wildcats. But we played them even last year and their home game will be off campus while their high school gym is being rennovated. Wisky has to have a bad year some time, right? It is just Ethan Happ and a bunch of role players, yet they always seem to overachieve. But I can't get the image of our mediocre to crappy team last year destroying them in Columbus . And Loving was awful that game and Thompson only played about 10 mins because of foul trouble. I truly believe we will be a better team this year and they will be worse. I don't think Badger fans are debating whether it is 'addition by subtraction' with the trio of Hayes, Koenig, and Showalter like us Buckeye fans are with Loving, Lyle, and Thompson.

I agree with all of this but I think you are excluding their best original program: The Journey.

The basketball version seems to work better than the football one (they added the football version years after the basketball one). And it seemed to be lighter material when it first started. The last couple of years I really feel like their main purpose is to make grown men cry. But it is still a really good show. The final episode of the basketball season always covers the BTN Tourney in depth and is always incredible.

A team called Overseas Elite has won this tournament in the first two years of it's existence. It is a #1 seed this year and is the favorite to win.
Scarlet and Gray has a damn good alumni team and is a 2 seed. But there are plenty of other good alumni teams. If they beat this Bradley team (which has a former lottery pick in Patrick O'Bryant), they play the winner of alumni teams from Marquette and Kansas State. There are other alumni teams alive including ones from Indiana, Gonzaga, and Syracuse.

Yeah, I meant more if they added a big man this year or for the 2018-19 season (assuming they add a big man in the 2018 class).
Matta never seemed to consider playing two bigs together regardless of the depth at that position.

I did forget about Andre Wesson. I'll give you that.
I am hoping Holtmann is less rigid on playing guys at specific positions as Matta was. I would love to see Potter play a little bit alongside Kaleb Wesson. Matta would never play two bigs together. He also seemed to have an aversion to Lyle playing anything but the PG spot.
Hopefully Holtmann is way more flexible and believes more in positionless basketball. If that's the case, trying to determine if Ahrens fits better as a 2 or a 3, isn't a big deal.